There's an 'anti-selfie' bill in Congress

By RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News

Posted at !"#!"#$% $&'$ A( ) *+dated as of !"#,"#$% -&#$ A(
Object1
.at/h the latest e+isode of Bandila also in i.ant T0 or T1C
(AN23A - 2f you're the ty+e of +erson who en4oys ta5ing rando6 sna+shots of +eo+le, +la/es, things and e7en the ubi8uitous
selfies and grou+ies and then +osting the6 on so/ial 6edia, better be /areful9
A//ording to Bayan (una Re+9 Carlos :arate, there's a bill in Congress that see5s to bar ta5ing +hotos of +eo+le without
their +er6ission9
;ouse Bill %!< or the Prote/tion against Personal 2ntrusion A/t is now u+ for -rd reading in +lenary9
2t defines =intrusion of +ersonal +ri7a/y= as =any +erson who willfully intrudes into the +ersonal +ri7a/y of another, without the
/onsent of that +erson and with the intent to gain or +rofit therefro6, shall be /i7illy liable to the offended +arty9=
=;B %!< will /reate a /hilling effe/t on 6edia and would es+e/ially affe/t /itizen 4ournalis69 2t would +unish with /i7il suit
ta5ing +hotos,7ideo or e7en audio re/ording anything /lai6ed as a +ersonal" fa6ily 6atter e7en of +ubli/ offi/ials and
+ersonalities,= :arate said9
=>7en an inno/uous selfie with +ubli/ figures at the ba/5ground would be liable for 'intrusion of +ri7a/y'9 This is absurd and
we urge our /olleagues to re/onsider,= he added9
A//ording to ;B %!<, the following a/ts are /onsidered an intrusion into the +ersonal +ri7a/y of another and shall be
+resu6ed to ha7e been /o66itted with the intent to gain or +rofit9
-/a+turing by a /a6era or sound re/ording instru6ent of any ty+e of 7isual i6age, sound re/ording or other +hysi/al
i6+ression of the +erson
-tres+assing on +ri7ate +ro+erty in order to /a+ture any ty+e of 7isual i6age, sound re/ording or other +hysi/al i6+ression of
any +erson
-/a+turing any ty+e of 7isual i6age, sound re/ording or other +hysi/al i6+ression of a +erson or fa6ily a/ti7ity through the
use of a 7isual or auditory enhan/e6ent de7i/e e7en when no +hysi/al tres+ass has o//urred, when the 7isual i6age, sound
re/ording or other +hysi/al i6+ression /ould not ha7e been /a+tured without a tres+ass if no enhan/e6ent de7i/e was used9
Se/tion % of the bill says any +erson whose +ersonal +ri7a/y was intruded as defined 6ay in a /i7il a/tion against the +erson
who /o66itted the intrusion, obtain any a++ro+riate relief, in/luding /o6+ensatory da6ages, +uniti7e da6ages, and
in4un/ti7e and de/laratory relief9
Any +erson obtaining relief 6ay be either the +erson whose 7isual or auditory i6+ression has been /a+tured or the owner of
the +ri7ate +ro+erty tres+assed to /a+ture the 7isual i6age, sound re/ording or other +hysi/al i6+ression of another9
=The fa/t that no 7isual i6age , sound re/ording or other +hysi/al i6+ression of a +erson was a/tually sold for gain or +rofit
shall not be a7ailable as a defense in any /i7il a/tion or +ro/eeding for the enfor/e6ent of the +ro7isions of this a/t,= the bill
e?+lained9
The only e?e6+tion fro6 this a/t are legiti6ate law enfor/e6ent a/ti7ities9
The bill is authored by Congress6en Rufus Rodriguez, (a?i6o Rodriguez, @orge Al6onte, Gwendolyn Gar/ia, 3inabelle
Ruth 0illari/a, 3ito Atienza and 3eo+oldo Bataoil9
NA (AR> S>312>S, PAPARA::2B
Criti/s said the bill has wide ranging i6+li/ations on +ress freedo6 and e7en so/ial 6edia9
@ose Torres @r9, board 6e6ber of the Photo4ournalistsC Center of the Phili++ines DPCPE, 2n/9, said the bill needs to define what
=intent to gain or +rofit therefro6= 6eans9
=2t would see6 that +eo+le fro6 the 6edia and 4ournalists /an be targets of the +ro+osed 6easure9 .orthy of being
e6+hasized is the +hrase 'with intent to gain or +rofit therefro69' 2n /ase a /o6+laint is filed in /ourt against a +hoto4ournalist,
/an la/5 of intent to gain be used as defenseB
=2t 6ust be /learly defined what /an be /lassified for 'gain' or '+rofit9' News outfits - news+a+ers, 6agazines, tele7ision, online
+ubli/ations, radio, and news wire agen/ies - are basi/ally for +rofit organizations9 There 6ust be /lear +ro7isions that
s+e/ify that news gathering 6ust be e?e6+ted fro6 this se/tion,= he added9
The grou+ said it wants 6edia to be e?e6+ted fro6 the /o7erage of the +ro+osed law9
=.e suggest to add the 8ualifi/ation 'unless this is done in the +ra/ti/e of a 6edia +rofessional in the interest of +ubli/
interest9' 2f we li6it Se/ - a, Se/ - / will then a++ly only to the +rote/tion of +ri7a/y /lause9=
The grou+ is also +ushing for a definition of =+ri7ate +ro+erty9=
=Pri7ate +ro+erty 6ust be s+elled out and defined9 Publi/ +la/es, /ars, +ubli/ trans+ort, +ubli/ buildings, a6ong others, and
indi7iduals, who by nature of their +osition or +rofession are /lassified as +ubli/ figures, /annot /lai6 7iolation of +ri7a/y9
Foes '+ersonal +ri7a/y' e?tend to +ubli/ do6ain or +ubli/ +la/es in +ri7ate s+a/es, for instan/e 6alls, sho++ing /enters,
e7ents 7enues, a lu?urious resort, a6ong othersB=
An the 6atter of /a+turing any ty+e of 7isual i6age, the grou+ said this +ro7ision /an affe/t 4ournalists who use 6odern
legiti6ate tools of news gathering li5e drones with /a6eras or tele+hoto lenses9
The grou+ +ro+osed that news and 7isual storytelling that fall into edu/ating, warning, e?+osing in/idents and e7ents that will
benefit the 6a4ority of so/iety 6ust be e?e6+ted be/ause interest grou+s /an use +ro7isions of the law to +ut enter+rising
4ournalists in tough situations9
The grou+ also wants a /orres+onding +ro7ision of +enalty for gra7e use of authority and /lear use of +ro7isions of the law
for harass6ent of 4ournalists9
=Aur a++rehension is based on the +re6ise that the a/t being 6ade +unishable by this +ro+osed 6easure is not /learly
defined to the +oint that 6any a/ts /an be /onsidered '6alu6 +rohibitu6' or /ondu/ts that /onstitute an unlawful a/t only by
7irtue of statute as o++osed to /ondu/t e7il in and of itself9=
=.e worry that this +ro+osed 6easure /an be/o6e a tool that 'unwilling +ubli/ figures' will use to su++ress +ress freedo69=